


As the Bird Flies

by the_geek_in_the_nook



Series: Cal and Ren [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, I'm so nervous about this, Just want some help to edit, Little children to big adults, My poor sunshine child, Original work - Freeform, WARNING verbal abuse, also my children are so precious and i love them, and I hate when people do this, and that would be really helpful??, but please read???, first part, would be really happy??
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 08:41:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9171442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_geek_in_the_nook/pseuds/the_geek_in_the_nook
Summary: Ren was mad.(which isn't unusual)Callaghan was nervous(which was)Cal and Ren. Two names that never want to separate.





	1. Of Meetings and Friends

**Author's Note:**

> This is a brain-child of me and my sister. She drew some characters which I wrote stories too and now I want to see what others thing of it. THIS IS AN ORIGINAL WORK. This is not a fan-fic, so please know this.

i.  
When Ren met Cal, she was mad.

Not that this was an unexpected turn of events. In the short span of her seven years, Ren had spent the majority of it angry. Not that she was a mean person, but things made Ren mad - like a kitten being kicked by the mean boys that lived up the street, or when Mom made her take a nap when she was way too old to be taking naps still.

Many things made Ren mad. This time it was because her cousin insisted on calling her Catherine. “It’s your name!” he insisted, superior in his imagined twelve-year old intelligence.

Did that matter? No one called her Catherine- she was Ren. Sometimes Wren, when she wanted to fly away or when Daddy sang to her. Sometimes Cat when Mom said she was being sneaky. Sometimes Cather when Daddy was feeling silly. But Catherine was when she was in trouble or when Great-Grandma was visiting.  
Ren didn’t like Great-Grandma.

So she was mad as she marched down the street in her MAD shoes (that’s what Daddy called them). She stomped in the high red boots, wishing for rain puddles to splash in or mud patches to make a satisfying splat noise with. Her brown hair seemed to grow two inches as she stormed along, bristling over her shoulders as if it took some of her anger with her. She marched marched marched, focusing on her red shoes rise and fall until it was interrupted by another human being, whom she bumped into.

And Ren, being the smaller of the human beings and not expecting a person, fell.

But being the resilient seven-year old that she was, and being generally unwilling to ever let gravity win, bounced back up and got ready to angrily yell at the human being for getting in her way.

The boy that she bumped into was looking surprised and a little afraid to be facing an angry short girl. If Ren wasn’t angry, she might’ve been more fascinated by the boy’s white hair and clear eyes, asking questions about White Queens and snow (Ren was reading Narnia), which the boy would’ve been used to. Everyone did it when they met Cal. But Ren was angry, which must be remembered.

“Hello.” the boy whispered, looking down at his shoes as if they could get him out of this awkward situation. “I’m sorry for bumping into you.”  
“Well, you should b--” Ren started angrily, but then the boy looked up and smiled at her. Granted, it wasn’t at its full power, being an apologetic smile, not a grin, but nevertheless, Ren was rendered speechless for a few seconds as she tried to comprehend how a smile could be so -- shiny.

But, she was still angry.

“Sorry.” she said instead, even though she was not at all sorry and not at all happy. And the boy took one look at her, and stopped looking so apologetic, and apprehensive, and laughed. He stopped shortly after he burst out, looking even more scared than before, but the laugh still rang through the air.

If anyone else had laughed, Ren would’ve blown up. But it was Callaghan that had laughed and Callaghan had a laugh that made you want to laugh as well. Not that the laugh was loud or strange- it was pure and sweet, like when a baby laughs or a kitten sneezes.

And since Ren had not yet built up an immunity to the laughs power, she found herself letting go of her anger. Her scowl was dropped and she grinned at the boy and a Ren Grin™ is 100% likely to cause another person to grin back.

“My name’s Ren.” she said, trying to show the boy that she was not angry anymore.

And the boy, looking surprised, smiled his biggest smile, which stunned the young girl, and, holding out his hand, said, “Nice to meet you! My name is Callaghan.”

And Ren shook the hand, feeling that this was a person that she wanted to stay in her life- the sunshine to her storm.

So she invited him to her house and the boy jumped at the chance, with a grin and a bounce in his step. And the apprehensive, scared, nervous boy that Ren barely even noticed, disappeared- the boy never stopped smiling.


	2. Of Nicknames and Forests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! New chapter for our delightful duo. Just a quick note about this series or work. It will be a three part story, written in a series. The first part (which you are reading) will be primarily from Ren's point of view, the second part from Cal's point of view and the third part from both of theirs. This part will feature them as young children, the second part as teenagers, and the third part as young adults. MIGHT feature artwork at some point- I'll have to get my sisters permission.

ii.  
“Why does your dad call your Cather?” asked Callaghan as he lay on her porch, one hot summer afternoon. Ren was sitting on the opposite side of Callaghan, leaning against the porch banister. Callaghan was tossing a ball up and catching it as it fell, the simple action drawing Ren’s eyes as she lazily picked at the peeling white paint that she was lying on.

“It’s my nickname.” she said, squinting as she looked at the forest at the end of the street. She still had yet to convince him to go exploring there; he kept squirming out of going there for some reason, saying he didn’t want to get his clothes messed up. And she (WASN’T scared) didn’t want to go by herself.

“Oh.” said Callaghan, catching the ball and holding it as he stared at it. “How did you get that nickname?”

“It’s part of my name.” Ren said, wrinkling her nose as she thought of her name. “Remember? My cousin kept calling me Catherine until I punched him.”

“Oh, yeah.” Callaghan said, as he sat up.

Ren didn’t notice Callaghan’s wince as he sat up. Instead, she turned to the forest again and jumped up. “Callaghan!” she announced, standing up and grabbing his arm, snapping him out of his frown that she never saw. “Let’s go claim our own spot in this world!”

Callaghan looked apprehensively at the young girl who bursted with energy. Sometimes, he thought absently, he felt that if he squinted at her and tilted his head a certain way, he could see the love pouring out of her in waves. Callaghan wondered if the waves would ever touch him like they touched her. Like when Ren’s Mom would hug her when she walked through the door. In those moments, as Ren tried to wriggle out of her Mom’s embrace (Stop it, Mommmm!), Callaghan felt lonely. Like his name didn’t fit (it never did but when Ren pulled his arm, he almost fit it).

“OK, let’s go.” he said and Ren beamed. “Where are we going?”

“I don’t know yet.”said Ren, with an eight-year olds indifference- the knowledge that adventure was just around the corner brimming from her very being. ‘But, we have to start off in the forest.”

Callaghan rolled his eyes, but he got up and Ren did a little victory dance inside as she dragged him across the street to the inviting cool shade of the little forest that bordered their neighborhood.

“You don’t have to tug so hard.” said Callaghan and Ren looked over at him, beginning to worry for her friend. He wasn’t smiling, he was being so careful, and he wasn’t his usually shiny self.

“Callaghan.” she said, as they both scrambled over a tree log. “What’s your nickname?”

“What?” said the boy, looking startled. Ren noted his hair was combed properly and wondered why she hadn’t seen that before. Callaghan’s hair always was so scattered, not combed neatly over his hair.

“Callaghan is much too long a name to say.” she said decidedly, as she climbed over a couple boulders, Callaghan scrambling behind her. “What’s your nickname?”

“I dunno. Mom just calls me Callaghan.” was the reply, and the accompanying frown was not missed by Ren this time.

“Nope!” she said cheerfully, as she rushed to find the source of the running water that had captivated her since she heard it. “Not gonna happen. We’re gonna nickname you. Callaghan is not good enough.”

“I’m not good enough?” Callaghan said, falling behind Ren as she pushed some branches out of her way.

Ren frowned. “No. No. Cal!” she said, turning to face her friend. “You are my closest friend. You make me smile and you always go on adventures with me.”

He smiled back at her uncertainly and then Ren laughed. “Cal! There ya go, I nicknamed you.” Grinning that grin that promised mischief, she added, “I’m gonna call you Callie though.”

Cal blinked as the nicknames washed over him, as well as the remarks Ren had made so easily. Then he smiled.  
“Well then, _Catherine_ , let’s keep going.”

Ren scowled and chased Cal as he marched on ahead. “Nope, nuh-uh. Catherine is off-limits. Not even for jokes.” She punched him in the shoulder for good measure and he rubbed the injury, smiling even through the pain. Then she looked up.

“Oh, Cal!” she breathed, and the nickname as well as the delight in her voice drew Cal’s eyes toward the sight she was so happy about.

“Did we find it?” he asked, his eyes trapped on the clearing in front of him, the waterfall spilling into the pool, the trees that grew so tall surrounding the pool.

“Oh, Cal, we most certainly did.” Ren grinned, as she ruffled her friends hair, so that it scattered over his eyes like it was supposed to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So  
> This featured more of Cal's thoughts than wanted. BUT I don't want to get rid of it, so it stays. Thoughts?  
> WHY IS EVERYTHING I WRITE SO SHORT  
> Also please comment?? I really would love to hear what people think of this even if all you say is "Ths is crp." Please review!


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